The Cape May Stage Presents “Red”

CAPE MAY – Red, South Jersey’s premier production of American playwright John Logan’s drama about 20th-century abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko, will open on October 26 for a limited 4-week engagement at Cape May Stage.
Directed by Chris Dolman and starring Artistic Director Roy Steinberg in his Cape May Stage debut performance, along with co-star RJ Barnett, the Tony Award-winning Red takes you into the mind of Mark Rothko, for whom paintings are pulsating life forces and art is intended to stop the heart. Performances begin on Wed., Oct. 26 (with an official opening on Thu., Oct. 27) and will run Thursdays & Saturdays at 8 p.m. with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 3 p.m. through Nov. 19 at the Robert Shackleton Playhouse at the corner of Bank and Lafayette Streets in downtown Cape May.
Hailed as intense and exciting by The New York Times, Red is set in 1958 as New York artist Mark Rothko (Roy Steinberg) has received the art world’s largest commission to create a series of murals for The Four Seasons restaurant in the new Seagram building on Park Avenue. Under the watchful gaze of his young assistant, Ken (RJ Barnett) and the threatening presence of a new generation of artists, Rothko faces his greatest challenge yet: to create a definitive work for an extraordinary setting. Red is a moving and compelling account of one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, whose struggle to accept his growing riches and praise became his ultimate undoing.
Logan’s previous plays include Never the Sinner, Hauptmann, Speaking in Tongues, Scorched Earth and Riverview. His new adaptation of Ibsen’s The Master Builder was seen in the West End in 2003. As a screenwriter, his work includes “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (Golden Globe Award), “The Aviator,” “Gladiator,” “The Last Samurai,” “Any Given Sunday” and “RKO 281” (WGA Award).
Steinbergs credits include the title roles in Macbeth, Richard III, and King Lear as well as playing opposite Christopher Walken in Measure For Measure at Yale Repertory Theatre and William Hurt in The Rhimers of Eldritch at the International Drama Festival in Dundalk, Ireland. He appeared on Broadway in Wings with Constance Cummings and off-Broadway at the Astor Place Theater and Soho Rep. He was a member of the famed Circle Repertory Theatre and Theatre Matrix. Favorite roles include Oronte in The Misanthrope at Hartford Stage and Wilson in Terra Nova at Santa Fe Festival Theatre. He was Dr. Longo for two years on NBC’s Another World and Judge Danforth on Days of Our Lives. He appeared in Yvonne Rainer’s The Man Who Envied Women, which screened at the Museum of Modern Art. Roy Steinberg has performed at the New York Public Theater, Kennedy Center and Wilbur Theater in Boston. He is also a producer and director and has four Emmy nominations for that work. His MFA is from Yale School of Drama.
Barnett is a recent graduate and Company member of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Other New York credits include The New York International Fringe Festival, and the Playwright’s Thesis Series at Columbia University.
Directed by Chris Dolman, the artistic team includes Shawn Fisher (sets and lighting), Leon Dobkowski (costumes), Dennis Zaitsev (sound), and Benjamin Loverin (stage manager).
Performance Information
Red officially opens Thu., Oct. 27 and will run to Sat., Nov. 19 at the Robert Shackleton Playhouse at the corner of Bank & Lafayette Streets in downtown Cape May. Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are $35 adults, $30 seniors (62+), and $15 students. Sat., Nov. 12, will be a half-price matinee performance for senior citizens. Following the Oct. 27 opening, all ticket holders are invited to join the opening night after-party at Hemingways at the Grand Hotel, with the chance to mingle with the cast and crew. Call (609) 884-1341 for reservations and information or visit the theatres website, www.capemaystage.org.
Red is co-sponsored by Saltwood House Bed and Breakfast and Hemingways at the Grand Hotel. This seasons sponsors include 410 Bank Street/Frescos, Exit Zero, CapeSCape, The Corner Cottage Apartments, Harrys Bar & Grille at the Montreal Inn, La Mer Beachfront Inn, Lucky Bones, Cape May Winery, and The Washington Inn.